Bill Thompson: Former Dr. Phillips athletic director devoted life to students

To overcome a paralyzing fear of heights, Bill Thompson forced himself to repeatedly climb an outdoor stairwell. And when the longtime Dr. Phillips athletic director grew comfortable with that, he took to the upper decks of stadiums and crossing bridges — until ultimately he was able to earn his private pilot's license.

"My dad was very disciplined," said Wayne Thompson, his oldest son. "When he set out to do something, he stuck to it."

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William Arthur (Bill) Thompson died Monday after a 22-year battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 68.

He was best known as the first athletic director at Dr. Phillips High School, a position he took when the school opened in 1987 and kept for nearly 15 years. Under his direction, the school developed one of Central Florida's most successful athletic programs — one that earned 14 state championships and produced a number of athletes who wound up playing professionally, including Major League Baseball outfielder Johnny Damon.

"Bill wasn't an athlete, but he loved sports," said Lou Fiorelli, who coached football and wrestling at what was then Memorial Junior High School, where Thompson worked before moving to Dr. Phillips. "Bill knew all the kids — and he liked all the kids. He was a wonderful guy with a very dry wit who loved a good prank."

Thompson would need the sense of humor, especially in his later years.

Thompson was one of three children born into a family with long Central Florida roots. His father was postmaster of Winter Garden and the extended family traced back to Luther F. Tilden, a central figure of the region's early white settlement.

Thompson attended the University of South Florida and immediately went to work at Memorial, where in addition to serving as athletic director he also taught history and geography for 17 years.

He divorced when the oldest of his own three children was 4 years old, and he raised the kids while working full time and gaining a reputation as being perhaps the most loyal fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who suffered through 14 consecutive losing seasons.

"He went to every home game the Bucs played since the team's inception [in 1976] until he could no longer physically make the trip," Wayne Thompson said. "He took a lot of ribbing for it."

The jokes he could stomach. But after he retired from Dr. Phillips and ran for Winter Garden City Commission, the limelight turned ugly. Though he won his bid for office, Thompson was accused of violating Florida's open-meeting law by allegedly discussing the closure of a trailer park in private. He lost a recall bid and a long battle to overturn the decision in the courts.

"I think it made him physically sick," his son said. "People would dump garbage in his front yard. He spent all his money trying to fight it."

When his only daughter, Timothea Thompson, died from complications of diabetes last year at age 41, friends and family say a big part of Bill Thompson died, too.

In addition to Wayne, Bill Thompson is survived by his son, Charles Thompson of Tampa, and brother Gerald Richard Thompson of South Carolina. Arrangements are being handled by Baldwin Fairchild Funeral Home of Winter Garden.